Star*Soldier Continuity & Reference Breakdown

Dundradal

Dundradal

Frog Blast the Vent Core!
Since we've all had a little time to soak up Star*Soldier I figured we'd might as well get to work seeing what has happened since SO. So to start just some of my own observations.



Ship Classes (that are now known/confirmed/new)

WC4 Black Lance transport - Evansville
WC3 Confed transport - Clarkson
WC Armada Confed transport- Belleau Wood
WC3 Confed destroyer - Southhampton
WC3 Confed cruiser - Tallhassee
WC3 Confed light carrier - Yorktown

WC Armada Kilrathi transport - Jakhari
WC4 Kilrathi transport - Dukara
WC3 Kilrathi transport - Sha'kar
WC3/P Kilrathi corvette - Kamrani
WC3 Kilrathi light destroyer - Ralarrad
WC3 heavy destroyer - Ralaxath

TCS Tarawa type CVE - Wake (nod to Standoff)

Other that I noticed were Texas class battleships from the 2630s. So that could be a class name for some of the battleships that were at the McAuliffe Ambush. Also the Harrier class CVE. The only other CVEs that came to mind were the TCS Eagle from HotT and the mentions of newer CVEs in FA.

Midway Class MegaCarriers Status

I put (?) after most of these because I think we can only definitively know about the ones that Chandra knows for sure. The destruction of the the Sirius wormhole apparently stranded at least the TCS Port Broughton and Bataan in alien territory for sure. The others are either the also lost in alien space, destroyed or still defending Confed space.

TCS Midway - Active (?)
TCS Mistral Sea - Lost
TCS Tafanda Bay - Active(?)
TCS Coral Sea - Active(?)
TCS Jutland - Lost
TCS Ptoloman's Rift - Active(?)
TCS Enyo III - Active(?)
TCS Bataan - Lost in alien territory
TCS Tripoli - Possibly lost but no news to author
TCS Port Broughton - Active as space habitat


Ok next....:D
 
I thought I'd go through this thing and pick out references one page at a time... I'm starting with the index, since we already talked about the cover and the Douglas Aerospace advertisement when the first scans showed up.

Page One - Index

* "Sudden Death" is the mercenary magazine included in Chris Roberts' Strike Commander. It is similar in its basic nature to Star*Soldier.

* "Vol. XLVII" is 47, which (by my fuzzy math) puts Star*Soldier's debut in 2654 - the year of the original Wing Commander. 47 is also the number that Star Trek writers try to hide somewhere in every episode.

* Masthead Artwork - the ships are a Midway-class Heavy Carrier (WCP, WCSO, WCA) and a Murphy-class Destroyer (WCSO). Both of these ships were designed by artist Sean Murphy... and, in a possible visual pun, both of them feature the same famous 'mast' (the 'Murphy bridge').

* "Joan's Fighting Spacecraft" - the Wing Commander equivalent of Jane's has appeared in several previous manuals, including Claw Marks, the Wing Commander II manual and the Terran Confederation Handbook.

* "Epsilon Sector" - the Epsilon Sector is a region of space shown on the Wing Commander Universe map. It's an amalgamation of the Antares Sector (SM2) and the Deneb Sector (SM, SO2) and a number other locations.

* "Antares Quadrant" - Antares is the setting of Secret Missions 2: Crusade.

* "Dralthi" - Probably the most famous Kilrathi fighter. Dralthi have appeared in almost every Wing Commander game (major exceptions being WC2 and Privateer 2).

* "Paktahn" - The Kilrathi bomber first seen in Wing Commander 3.

* "hotly contested" - from a line of dialogue in Wing Commander III. Blair says "Locanda’s always been hotly contested".

* "Port Broughton" - Port Broughton is one of the ten Midway-class carriers established internally by Origin but never published in a canonical source (until now).

* "Fighter and Pilot" - a play on 'Car and Driver', a popular car magazine.

* "TNC wire" - Terran News Channel, the holo-news channel seen in Wing Commander III and IV.

* "ReadyNet" - This is an obscure one! ReadyNet is a service mentioned on the cover of one of the manuals for Wing Commander IV PSX. That booklet shows the login screen for ReadyNet. The 'keyword' portion seems like a joke about how commercials would advertise how to access their services via AOL.

* "Gar's Emporium" - Gars is from the novel Action Stations, a space station hidden on the rim of a black hole that sells goods to both sides.

* "The Rondell Corporation" - One of the corporations that was fighting during the Lynn Murphy series in Privateer. Rondell was the group you flew for.

* The document being offered in 'hard copy' and 'e-text' editions echoes the original Claw Marks, which offers the same announcement - the Kilrathi language edition is new, though (amazingly, Star*Soldier actually *is* offered in hard-copy and e-text editions, too... I don't think EA has actually done one in Kilrathi, though)!

General note: for those who haven't caught up on their ship identificaiton, the fighter in the inset is a Rapier II Blade.
 
I noticed this on p. 49 under the year 2680:

Rein Ertrobs releases the fourth book in
his wildly popular series of fantasy novels
set within the Darkening universe. The
book, entitled Lev’s Pact, forces the publisher
to restructure its flat-scan transmit
hub in order to accommodate the over
one billion requests.

Does this mean that Privateer 2 is fictional in the context of the Wing Commander universe? Like how System Shock was referenced as a holovid in the WCIII manual. However, I'm pretty sure the old Privateer 2 FAQ on Origin's website stated that Privateer 2 did take place in the Wing Commander universe. Plus, Rein Ertrobs seems to be an anagram of Erin Roberts.
 
Master Katarn said:
Does this mean that Privateer 2 is fictional in the context of the Wing Commander universe? Like how System Shock was referenced as a holovid in the WCIII manual.
Click to expand...

It seems unlikely. Privateer 2 still takes place in Arena's future. Meanwhile, there are many references to the Tri-System and its distinctive aspects throughout the rest of Arena's manual. For example, check out the sixth bullet point in the classified ads page: https://cdn.wcnews.com/newestshots/full/starsoldier8.jpg Isaac is one of the three P2 systems, and Titan Alloys and Pleasure Borgs are the commodities from the game. The same blurb also says that region of space is 3 to 5 years away from your main Confederation areas. Also see the references to the Maddox family's Kraven Lasers on the same page.
 
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the Editor-in-Chief is good old Gash Dekker from WC4 and WCP.

in the Best of the Best at the bottom of page 9, Simon "McGoo" Leduke is a wingman card in the wc ccg, Doomsday is of course the guy with the face tattoos from WC1 SO2 (I think its SO2, never played it) WC2 and some of the novels, theres a slew of pilots from the TCS Midway in WCP on there, Kevin "Lone Wolf" Tolwyn is listed at 463 (and theres a picture of him on page 11 under the 'Up & Coming' section, alsong with Doomsday.

also on page 11, theres a pic of a Halsey class stations which is the same as Perry in Privateer, and it aludes to the destruction of Perry by saying 'Farragut is the only example of its type to survive the Nephilim War.'

Another Steltek artifact was found in Antares Quadrant in 2691, which lead the most massive fleet of the Aligned Peoples to the area to retreive it.

thats about all I got for now, I got home about an hour ago from work and Im tired, but this manual is just too damn good to not read.
 
Ijuin said:
Perhaps the name was meant as a joke on the 1930s Iowa class battleships?
Click to expand...

Nitpick: the Iowa itself didn't have its keel laid down until mid-1940. The USS Texas (BB-35) was one of the New York class, keel laid in 1911.

Also, given Forstchen's heavy use of history as a basis for much of his work, that he'd give "Texas" to a WC battleship from before the kat war that later played a role after the war kicked off isn't surprising (though the Texas served in the Atlantic in WW2, in contrast to the general "Pacific WW2" analogy that forms the basis of much of WC).

As for the original subject of this thread, I just got off of work a bit ago, my mind's still partly shut down. :p
 
Perhaps the name was meant as a joke on the 1930s Iowa class battleships?
Click to expand...

Or just a reference to the birthplace of Wing Commander.

Does this mean that Privateer 2 is fictional in the context of the Wing Commander universe? Like how System Shock was referenced as a holovid in the WCIII manual. However, I'm pretty sure the old Privateer 2 FAQ on Origin's website stated that Privateer 2 did take place in the Wing Commander universe.
Click to expand...

As others have already noted, the Tri-System is mentioned as being a real thing at several other points in this manual. This joke, along with several of the other 2680/2681 points, is actually from Origin's Privateer Online Second Attempt timeline and are presumably a tribute to that project (https://www.wcnews.com/news/update/7049).
 
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Page 2 breakdown

This might be incomplete, but it should give a good running start to anyone wanting to plug in any holes in my known-crappy memory. Also, where I mention that I'm guessing, I mean just that: I'm not sure, and am not trying to present my comments as definitive. :p This also is on my own, supplemented by checking the CIC. I didn't hassle LOAF on IRC about the details. :D

Anyway, on to the page...

-----

As noted before, Gash Dekker, S*S's Editor-in-Chief, is from WC4 and WCP, with the picture from (I believe) one of the comm videos in Prophecy.

Now, the letters, by subject name:

Glory to Sivar

Reference to the Kilrathi civil war first mentioned (IIRC) in the WC4 novelization. In the reply from the magazine, "takhar" is Kilrathi for "brother of equal rank", used (I believe) as an honorific. The information about the former Empire issuing as many privateer licenses (presumably akin to the Letters of Marque from the days of wooden sailing ships) as all other star nations combined may be a further reference to the kat CW, though that's admittedly a somewhat iffy supposition, at best.

Tiger's Claws

Reference to the WC movie, whose script used, in various versions, both the possessive version and the plural one, until the finalized script used (wrongly) the plural version. Also, IMO, a mildly veiled reference to obnoxious asshole fans who all freaked out about the possessive/plural thing. :p

Asher Lawson is our own Frosty, apparently writing (in the 28th century) from New Constantinople, or at least based there.

Picking up the Peace

Not sure about what the CCSP is (though it may be referenced later in the manual, I don't recall offhand), but Dan Sumner is our own Vinman, apparently serving with the Exploratory Service in Avalon sector.

Tip of the Lance

"J. Bielawa" is our own LeHah, serving as part of Tolwyn's Black Lance forces, who went under the squadron designation of 212th in the novelization of WC4. Confed is, apparently, a bunch of cheap bastards, only offering a 20Kcr bounty for BL personnel. :p

Fish in the Water

Adressing an old fan question about torpedoes, asked by a forumite, though I don't recall which one off the top of my head (possibly referring to Delance, whose first name is Octavio), writing from Texas University, presumably a reference to Origin's location. References the McAuliffe Ambush first mentioned (real world publishing timeline) in Claw Marks, then featured as the focus of Action Stations, as well as the newer version of phase shielding introduced in WC2. The Proton bombs used as part of "modern torpedoes" is referring to a weapon first mentioned in regards to the Kilrathi bombardment, around 2655 or so, of Mylon II, the homeworld of Jacob "Hawk" Manley, that resulted in the death of Hawk's family (the year guesstimate being from it happening when he was away at flight school, as mentioned in WCP).

Never Forget

"VN Day" is presumably the celebration of the formal end of the war against the Nephilim, from the context of the rest of the letter, as well as from both the historical VE and VJ Days (end of WW2 in Europe and the Pacific, respectively) and VK Day, end of the war with the Kilrathi. Not sure who Cheryl Johnson is (perhaps referring to blondehyphenone [aka Mrs. ace], whose first name is Cheryl), but we know she served aboard the TCS Eisen (tribute to Jason Bernard, who played Capt. William Eisen in WC3 and WC4), during most of the Nephilim war, whose end date is established to be .222 (.236 is Confederation Day), though the year is unknown (though probably not too far in the past, as of Arena's 2701).

Letter of the Month

Dundradal already covered the ships pictured, but he didn't touch on the matter of the letter's author, namely our own Cpl Hades. :)
 
We'll have to go through as well to find all our fellow community members noted in here as well. It almost certainly looks like EA went through the CIC fan directory to grab some people's names. I forgot that resource even existed, I don't think I've updated my profile since I uploaded it, as that picture of me is when I was 15 or so. It is great though to see so many community members get recognition in this way.
 
Death said:
Adressing an old fan question about torpedoes, asked by a forumite, though I don't recall which one off the top of my head (possibly referring to Delance, whose first name is Octavio)
Click to expand...

That would make sense. It's not really a common name in the US (or Canada) otherwise.

Death said:
"VN Day" is presumably the celebration of the formal end of the war against the Nephilim... established to be .222 (.236 is Confederation Day), though the year is unknown.
Click to expand...

.222 is certainly a great day to celebrate!
 
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Sandman is another long-time Privateer. He is known throughout the
galaxy as the man who foiled General Drakas’ plan to rebuild the old
Empire with Steltek technology.
Click to expand...
Wasnt this part of the canceled Privateer 3 script?

2672
A rare Steltek weapon is discovered on
Challenger. As the conflict in the border
worlds heats up, Joe Turner and Marc
Lassiter race against time to stop Phillip
Rickman’s crime syndicate from aquiring
it. In the process the pair involve themselves
in a Church of Man plot to destroy
Perry Naval Base and an SRA scheme to
reappropriate munitions from the Gemini
Sector fleet for Admiral Tolwyn’s black
ops division.
Click to expand...

Any idea where this came from?
 
Wasnt this part of the canceled Privateer 3 script?
Click to expand...

Yes, it was.

Any idea where this came from?
Click to expand...

That was Chris Roberts' Privateer 2 / Privateer TV show concept.

As noted before, Gash Dekker, S*S's Editor-in-Chief, is from WC4 and WCP, with the picture from (I believe) one of the comm videos in Prophecy.
Click to expand...

I think it's actually cropped from the winning endgame, when Dekker appears on Blair's PDA (he wears a helmet there).

Asher Lawson is our own Frosty, apparently writing (in the 28th century) from New Constantinople, or at least based there.
Click to expand...

But wait! It's not nconstantinople.gemini.government... it's *nn*constantinople.gemini.government. Is there a 'New New Constantinople' now, possibly another result of the Nephilim invasion that apparently destroyed Perry?

Not sure about what the CCSP is (though it may be referenced later in the manual, I don't recall offhand),
Click to expand...

The CCSP was the "Confederation Citizen Subsidy Program", a mechanism created for Privateer Online (Second Attempt). It was the political body responsible resettling the Gemini and newly discovered Hope Sectors after the Nephilim War. Hope Sector makes its first canonical appearance here, too!

'Goons' sounds like a SomethingAwful reference, too - where Dan Sumner is (was) a moderator of some sort.

"J. Bielawa" is our own LeHah, serving as part of Tolwyn's Black Lance forces, who went under the squadron designation of 212th in the novelization of WC4. Confed is, apparently, a bunch of cheap bastards, only offering a 20Kcr bounty for BL personnel.
Click to expand...

This is probably also a joke about the Digital Anvil space games - apparently the derogatory term for Tolwyn's men is 'Lancers' (like StarLancer and FreeLancer).

Adressing an old fan question about torpedoes, asked by a forumite, though I don't recall which one off the top of my head (possibly referring to Delance, whose first name is Octavio), writing from Texas University, presumably a reference to Origin's location. References the McAuliffe Ambush first mentioned (real world publishing timeline) in Claw Marks, then featured as the focus of Action Stations, as well as the newer version of phase shielding introduced in WC2. The Proton bombs used as part of "modern torpedoes" is referring to a weapon first mentioned in regards to the Kilrathi bombardment, around 2655 or so, of Mylon II, the homeworld of Jacob "Hawk" Manley, that resulted in the death of Hawk's family (the year guesstimate being from it happening when he was away at flight school, as mentioned in WCP).
Click to expand...

I don't think this is a real name - it's too weird. Gourami are a kind of tropical fish... I have four of them as pets!

The 'civilian grade Proton bombs' is probably actually referring to the Proton Torpedoes you could purchase in the original Privateer - basically high powered dumb fire missiles that required a special 'torpedo launcher'.

The University of Texas (at Austin) turned out a large percentage of the guys who worked at Origin in the 80s and 90s (including Richard Garriott). It's also where I went to school!

"VN Day" is presumably the celebration of the formal end of the war against the Nephilim, from the context of the rest of the letter, as well as from both the historical VE and VJ Days (end of WW2 in Europe and the Pacific, respectively) and VK Day, end of the war with the Kilrathi. Not sure who Cheryl Johnson is (perhaps referring to blondehyphenone [aka Mrs. ace], whose first name is Cheryl), but we know she served aboard the TCS Eisen (tribute to Jason Bernard, who played Capt. William Eisen in WC3 and WC4), during most of the Nephilim war, whose end date is established to be .222 (.236 is Confederation Day), though the year is unknown (though probably not too far in the past, as of Arena's 2701).
Click to expand...

A few things to note here - .222 is actually the CIC Birthday... and CV-74 is the designation we gave the Eisen when we made Navy-style TCS Eisen hats.
 
Dundradal said:
We'll have to go through as well to find all our fellow community members noted in here as well. It almost certainly looks like EA went through the CIC fan directory to grab some people's names. I forgot that resource even existed, I don't think I've updated my profile since I uploaded it, as that picture of me is when I was 15 or so. It is great though to see so many community members get recognition in this way.
Click to expand...

I think that isn't the fan directory but the forums list, i'm not in the fan directory, and unless stated otherwise i'm D(iego).Bortman :p
 
"Tyra Hunter is a Kilrathi War veteran who won the Medal of Valor and three Distinguished
Service Crosses serving with the 82nd Marine Spacecraft Wing. She later
made a name for herself as a mercenary operating between Felicity and New Damascus."

The TCMC does have pilots of some sort... Even if they aren't fighter pilots...:D

Also, Casy made it to Col.

"The most famous battlecruiser of all was unquestionably the TCS Lawrence, which rescued the TCS
Midway after Zhrtx’s Doublecross. Her sudden arrival at the height of the battle prompted Colonel
Casey himself to exclaim that she was “the ugliest, most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”"

Also again... A "Kilrathi Midway"???

Another thing... "F-10 Merlin: Glory over Peron"... Nice

Again... We have the confed flag in page 33

Another one... "you certainly won’t find a holographic viewscope or a Merlin computer here."

The Merlin is from the movie, right?

"gas system
is no longer standard, following recent studies
showing that prolonged exposure causes
fur loss." As an old general would say... Wow, just wow... hehehe


Page 38... "Android nudity" hehehehehehe
 
I think that isn't the fan directory but the forums list, i'm not in the fan directory, and unless stated otherwise i'm D(iego).Bortman
Click to expand...

I don't know - maybe that's Duncan Bortman. :)
 
Things i found:

Page 58: Interview with the Vampire
Lt. Col Jean Talvert! Great, Stiletto made it to Lt. Colonel ( WCP):P

Page 57: Classifieds
-1) Filho@circe.government (mention to edfilho?)
-3) mention to Andre Sommers? (it was Andrew?, can't remember)
-6)Jetlag...jbiermann@... (Jetlag anyone?)
-7)Governor Murphy? Is Lynn Murphy from Priv?
-8) creid@.... our resident SubCrid!! Cris Reid.
-15) Dr. Monkhouse from Priv, now residing in Oxford Univ.
-16) CASEY TAKES CHARGE!!! (about Petracca who wants more money for the voiceover in WCSO, this reference is great
-29)Rburns@...our resident forumer RBurns?!!
-30)mmahadeen@... the guy who did the music for UE
 
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